- Leadership Spotlight:
Equity: An Essential Part of Patient Safety - Helping Hospitals Address Workforce and Financial Challenges
- Run for Regent-at-Large
- How Purpose, Humility and Accessibility Can Transform Your Organization
- Discover the Benefits of IFDHE’s Summer Enrichment Program: Apply to Host an Intern
- IHF Opens World Hospital Congress Registration; Calls for Abstracts, Award Submissions
Leadership Spotlight:
Equity: An Essential Part of Patient Safety
The World Health Organization recently celebrated its 75th anniversary by observing public health achievements that have improved the quality of life in the last seven decades, and by calling for a renewed drive for health equity. “We have much to be proud of, but much work to do to realize our founding vision of the highest attainable standard of health for all people,” said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, PhD, in an April 3 news release.
In the United States, healthcare providers are realizing that without an intentional emphasis on equity, patient safety cannot truly be achieved—and they’re taking steps to put into practice initiatives that lean into the nexus of those two intertwined goals.
For example, some providers are parsing numbers and poring over outcomes to find gaps in care—not only by race, gender, ethnicity and age, but also sexual orientation, gender identity, education and employment status. Such data is critical to hospital and health system efforts to eliminate disparities and provide equitable care across the community, according to healthcare leaders and experts interviewed for the March/April Healthcare Executive feature “Equity Is Essential to Patient Safety.”
The American Hospital Association has had many conversations with its members in building the Health Equity Roadmap that it launched in spring 2022 with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, says Joy Lewis, senior vice president, health equity strategies. “Everyone wants to tether this equity work to the work that’s been done for over a decade now around quality and patient safety,” she says. “Because at the end of the day, it is really hard to say you’re delivering high-quality care if it’s not equitably administered.”
Visit HealthcareExecutive.org to explore how organizations are working to advance health equity and patient safety.
Helping Hospitals Address Workforce and Financial Challenges
Critical workforce shortages today could impact the ability of hospitals to provide safe, high-quality care. The 2022 American College of Healthcare Executives’ annual survey of top issues confronting hospitals ranked workforce challenges as the top concern—ahead of financial challenges—for the second consecutive year.
Many hospital CEOs cite shortages of registered nurses as one of the most pressing needs, followed by shortages of technicians and general burnout among nonphysician staff. Top financial concerns include Medicaid reimbursement, increasing costs for staff/supplies and the need to reduce operating costs.
Adding to this is a growing aging population, impacts from the global COVID-19 pandemic and economic uncertainty—all of which point to the need for smart long- and short-term strategies to mitigate the burdens. Health systems with minimally invasive care programs are leveraging sophisticated robotics platforms by Intuitive that enable surgeon autonomy (through the console, surgeons have control of the instruments used in surgery). These platforms support staffing models, standardized processes and data insights that may have cost and efficiency advantages.
Working in collaboration with healthcare executives, physicians and care teams, Intuitive helps hospitals and health systems identify value-enhancing opportunities such as:
- Improving throughput with greater surgeon autonomy.
- Optimizing staffing models—in and out of the OR—and better predicting staffing resources for postoperative care.
- Improving turnover times between surgeries and creating a more streamlined preparation process for support staff.
Learn about potential short- and long-term solutions to help lower costs, alleviate staffing burdens and improve OR efficiency in the Intuitive e-books: People empowerment across the care continuum and Helping transform operations, together.
For important safety information, please refer to intuitive.com/safety. For a product’s intended use and/or indications for use, risks, full cautions and warnings, please refer to the associated user manual(s).
© 2023 Intuitive Surgical Operations, Inc. All rights reserved. Product and brand names/logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of Intuitive Surgical or their respective owner. PN1115156-US Rev A 03/2023
Intuitive, a proud supporter of ACHE, provided the content above.
Run for Regent-at-Large
The ACHE Board of Governors is calling for applications to serve as Regent-at-Large in District 2 beginning in March 2024. ACHE Fellows are eligible for Regent-at-Large vacancies within their district.
The goal of the Board of Governors in appointing Regents-at-Large is to diversify the Council of Regents. The purpose of the Regent-at-Large is to promote diversity in the governance of ACHE with respect to race, ethnicity, gender, religion, age, sexual orientation or disability. For further details, please refer to ACHE’s Statement on Diversity. The responsibilities of the Regent-at-Large—including suggested knowledge, skills and experience for the role—are included in the position description. We encourage interested candidates to review the position description and Statement on Diversity before applying. The appointment will be made by the Board of Governors in December 2023. Candidates should not directly contact members of the Board of Governors or ACHE staff to request letters of support.
If you have any questions about running for Regent-at-Large, please contact Jennifer L. Connelly, FACHE, CAE, vice president, Volunteer Relations, at jconnelly@ache.org. Candidates must declare their candidacies by Sept. 15.
How Purpose, Humility and Accessibility Can Transform Your Organization
“Historically, healthcare has tended to have a hierarchical culture,” writes Kevin J. Joseph, MD, FACHE, in Chapter 6 of his new book, “Cracking the Healthcare Leadership Code: How Purpose, Humility, and Accessibility Can Transform Your Organization. “The good news is that the power gradient in healthcare (both real and perceived) is gradually being flattened as its negative effects on patient care and organizational culture are more clearly understood. Especially as we move toward a value-based, patient-centric care model, more and more leaders realize it is our responsibility to directly confront this issue.”
Chapter 6, which describes how flattening the power gradient begins with senior leadership, is one of several topics covered in this new title. It is written with the goal of helping leaders find their footing in a new healthcare landscape characterized by fatigued employees who are yearning for empowerment and meaning. Joseph, a physician leader who is well-versed in the interactions between doctors, administrators and clinical staff, describes how to attract and retain talent by reducing hierarchical communication, reinvigorating workers’ sense of purpose, and empowering them to do their best work.
Learn more about this new book and purchase your copy today.
Discover the Benefits of IFDHE’s Summer Enrichment Program: Apply to Host an Intern
“Annually, the Summer Enrichment Program brings a new cohort of creative, diverse and talented students to Main Line Health,” says Shonalie Roberts, system director, Health Equity, Main Line Health, Radnor, Pa., and an ACHE Member. Designed to grow and strengthen the pipeline of healthcare leaders from underrepresented groups, the Institute for Diversity and Health Equity’s Summer Enrichment Program places diverse graduate students pursuing advanced degrees in healthcare administration or a related field in 10-week paid internships at healthcare organizations across the country.
Just as students benefit from experiential learning, healthcare organizations that apply to become host sites gain access to the healthcare leaders of tomorrow—several former SEP interns are now CEOs and administrators of hospitals and healthcare organizations nationwide.
Main Line Health, which has served as a host site since 2005, has seen more than 40 interns matriculate through the program and has hired roughly 56% of graduating interns for either full-time employment or fellowship roles immediately after their internships, according to Roberts.
The May 1 deadline to apply to be a host site is quickly approaching. Learn more about the benefits of being a host site and register today to host the healthcare leaders of tomorrow.
IHF Opens World Hospital Congress Registration; Calls for Abstracts, Award Submissions
Registration is open for the International Hospital Federation’s World Hospital Congress. IHF has also extended its abstract submission deadline and is accepting entries for its 2023 Awards.
World Hospital Congress Registration Open
This fall, join IHF to learn, exchange and connect with peers from around the globe during the 46th World Hospital Congress, Oct. 25–27, in Lisbon, Portugal. This event will bring together leaders, managers and professionals from hospitals, healthcare organizations, academia, governments and nongovernmental organizations to share global learning that leads to effective local action.
Register by July 31 to take advantage of exclusive early bird rates. Discounted IHF member rates are also available to ACHE and its members; simply enter the code 23WHCIHF when asked if your organization is an IHF member. Finally, group discounts are available for organizations that register five or more attendees. The group registration portal will be available soon. In the meantime, contact ihfcongress@events.mci-group.com if you plan to bring a team to Congress.
Learn more about the World Hospital Congress and register today.
Call for Abstracts Extended
IHF has extended the deadline for abstract submissions until Friday, April 21. As a reminder, the organization is seeking abstracts about projects and programs that showcase innovations, models and examples of leadership. If you have compelling working to share, submit abstracts for consideration on the following thematic tracks, all of which fall under the overarching theme of “Tomorrow’s World”:
- Leaders successfully navigating the future.
- Well-being and the future for our professionals.
- Innovative approaches to providing healthcare.
- The ever-expanding digital landscape.
- Next-generation, climate-resistant and sustainable healthcare.
Be sure to check out IHF’s abstract guidelines before submitting. If you have questions, please contact ihfcongress@events.mci-group.com.
2023 IHF Awards
Launched in 2015, the IHF Awards honor excellence in hospitals and healthcare organizations around the world. IHF invites hospitals and health service providers to submit entries that demonstrate outstanding projects, programs and services by June 16 for the following categories:
- Dr. Kwang Tae Kim Grand Hospital Award.
- Seddiqi Holding Excellence Award for Corporate Social Responsibility.
- Ashikaga-Nikken Excellence Award for Green Hospitals.
- Sultanate of Oman Excellence Award for Health Services During Crisis.
- American Hospital Association Excellence Award for Healthcare Workers' Wellbeing.
- American College of Healthcare Executives Excellence Award for Leadership and Management.
- Austco Excellence Award for Quality and Patient Safety.
The IHF Awards will be presented to winners during a ceremony at this year’s World Hospital Congress. Visit the IHF Awards webpage to learn more. For inquiries, please contact awards@ihf-fih.org.